On Mon, 24 Jan 2000 CKlemenich@chob.edu wrote:

> Does anyone have a method  for  intensifing the staining of the eosinophils
> on a frozen section  using the standard  H & E ?  Would adjusting the pH of
> the eosin help stain the eosinophils better ?  The pathologist here have
> been asking this question for years and I do not have an answer.

  Advise the pathologist to buy a textbook of histological
  technique. He should know the answer to this question.

  Raising the pH of the eosin will reduce the staining of
  acidophilic objects other than eosinophils, which
  consequently become easier to see. At pH 9 the
  cytoplasmic granules of these cells and of Paneth cells
  in the intestine (also sperm tails in testis) are the
  only things stained by anionic dyes. At pH 8, which is less
  likely to remove the sections from the slides, you will
  also get some staining of red blood cells, but nothing
  otherwise in cytoplasm and collagen.

 John A. Kiernan,
 Department of Anatomy & Cell Biology,
 The University of Western Ontario,
 LONDON,  Canada  N6A 5C1